AG
wants MDC activists to nail colleagues

HARARE - Three members of Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), part of a group abducted by state security agents in and around
Harare last October, were on Tuesday abducted again from their homes in
Mashonaland West province's Banket area.

Terry Musona, Lloyd Tarumbwa
and Fani Tembo were later released after being ordered to attend court
Monday to testify against fellow MDC activists who are due to stand trial
for allegedly seeking the overthrow of President Robert Mugabe last
year.

The MDC says the three were taken to the Attorney General's office
in Harare.

"At the AG's office," the MDC said in a statement Tuesday,
"the three were ordered to testify as State witnesses when the trial of
other MDC activists kicks off on Monday.

"They were ordered to
testify against their colleagues in accordance with the instructions that
they were given by the police or risk facing serious unspecified
consequences."

The three are among the initial group of 32 MDC and human
rights activists including a couple who were jailed along with their
two-year old child between October and December last year.

Following
weeks of anxiety and intense denial about their whereabouts by police, the
abducted persons were finally produced in December to face charges of trying
to overthrow Mugabe through acts of banditry, terrorism, insurgency and
sabotage.

They deny the charges.

Musona, Tembo and Tarumbwa were
released in February without any charges being brought against them. The
police are now using them as witnesses against their
colleagues.

Tembo is a councillor for Ward 22, Zvimba South and MDC
district organizing secretary while Tarumbwa is a coordinator for the party
in the same ward. Musona is the MDC Mashonaland West provincial vice
secretary.

MDC lawyers have prepared an urgent High Court application to
stop the State from using them as witnesses on charges which the party says
are trumped up.

While the police are yet to account for the remaining
abductees, 16 of them including former ZBC TV newscaster and now Zimbabwe
Peace Project director, Jestina Mukoko, have since been indicted to stand
trial in the High Court starting on Monday.

Concilia Chinanzvavana,
Fidelis Chiramba, Violet Mupfuranhewe and Collen Mutemagawu will be first to
be tried on Monday, June 8.

The three together with Chinoto
Zulu, Zacharia Nkomo, Rejis Mujeye and Mapfumo Garutsa, are facing five
counts of terrorist bombings at two Harare police stations, on a railway
line and on a bridge near the town of Norton between August and November
last year.

Polls neither free nor fair: ZESN

HARARE - - A Zimbabwean elections watchdog said on
Tuesday last year's harmonised elections were conducted in conditions of
intimidation, violence and lacking transparency, contrary to a declaration
by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) that the elections were
peaceful.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) said the
declaration in a report last week by the government run ZEC claiming that
last year's bloody presidential election run-off was held in a "generally
peaceful" environment was flawed as a lot of issues affecting proper
electoral management were overlooked.

Responding to the ZEC report,
ZESN chronicled a cluster of manipulations made by President Robert Mugabe's
administration, including violence, which swayed the voting
patterns.

"There were countless reports of alleged state sponsored acts
of violence throughout the country with victims that reported cases of
violence being locked up by the police and being exposed to violence in
police detention," the ZESN said.

"There was a systematic targeting
of civic groups such as ZESN involved in elections with negative publicity
clearly calculated and intended to malign reputation ahead of any assessment
which may be made. This was particularly prevalent in the state print
media," ZESN reported, adding it lost one of its staffers in the
violence.

It said that ZEC lost control of the accreditation process and
instead of inviting observers for the polls, it waited for the government to
carry out this invitation process.

"ZEC was not totally in control of
the accreditation process as the Commission had to wait for the Ministry of
Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to invite observers for
accreditation hence the delays.

"There was evident lack of press freedom
and an independent media. There was rampant use of hate language by the
state media, both electronic and print in the June 2008 election. There were
reports of denials by the state media to flight adverts of one of the
contestants in the presidential run-off," added ZESN.

The election
watchdog said a more palatable approach would be for the electoral calendar
to be clearly spelt out in the legislative framework, and for the
responsibility for setting election dates to lie solely with the Electoral
Commission, not with the President, who was one of the
contestants.

It added that there were reports of potential candidates
allegedly being barred from accessing nomination centres some of which were
barricaded by youth militia and in extreme cases potential candidates either
had their papers stolen or were abducted only to be released after the
closure of the nomination court.

"ZEC does not explain the drastic
decline in the number of observers during the presidential run-off," the
ZESN said, adding that for the presidential run-off invitations to observe
were received only a week before election day, making it impossible for
observers to travel for accreditation at the two centres.

"The
secrecy of the postal voting was reportedly compromised and video footage of
such compromise was made public and yet no explanations are given by ZEC.
Further there is no mention of any efforts by the Commission to investigate
these allegations, nor recommendations for reform of the manner in which
postal ballots are administered," said ZESN.

There was complete
information blackout on presidential results for five weeks yet previous
elections had results being announced within 24 hours after the closing of
polls, added the report.

It said a national command centre set up to run
the elections was quickly disbanded with no explanation and it was not made
public where activities around verification of results were being
conducted.

In addition, the courts did not make timely rulings on a
number of issues and disputes regarding the elections such as disputes over
voters' roll.

"While there was improvements over past elections, the
pre-election environment continues to fall short of the minimum conditions
outlined in the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic
Elections," added ZESN.

In its report covering the period between the
harmonised elections of March 29 2008 and the run-off of June 27 last year,
the ZEC said it was satisfied that it "conducted the first and second
elections efficiently, freely, fairly, transparently and in accordance with
the law".

This is despite well documented reports by human rights
organisations and the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC which claimed that at least
200 of its supporters were killed, 10 000 families displaced and several
thousands others injured in the countdown to the run-off by state security
agents, ZANU PF militia and war veterans.

The international community
and regional countries did not recognise Mugabe's victory in the bloody
run-off, prompting the African Union (AU) to order formation of an inclusive
government made up of Mugabe, Tsvangirai and a smaller formation of the
MDC.

The AU asked Southern African Development Community (SADC) to
facilitate dialogue between the three Zimbabwe political parties, which
culminated in the signing last September of global political agreement and
the formation of the inclusive government in February this year. -
ZimOnline

Constitution making on track: Minister

HARARE - Constitutional
Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga says the government will be able to deliver
a new constitution for the country within the timeframe agreed under a
power-sharing agreement that gave birth to President Robert Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's unity government.

"We are going to meet
the time frames, so far there is nothing which causes me alarm that we will
not meet the deadline," said Matinenga who was speaking at a constitutional
debate in Harare on Tuesday night.

"The constitution will be crafted
within the framework of the agreement. We feel we need to deliver a people
centred constitution and that should be done now."

Under the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) brokered agreement, ZANU PF and the two
MDC parties are supposed to craft a new constitution for the country within
18 months.

Zimbabwe is currently governed under the 1979 Constitution
agreed at the Lancaster House talks in London.

The Constitution has
been amended 19 times since the country's independence in 1980 and critics
say the changes have only helped to entrench Mugabe and ZANU PF's
stranglehold on power.

Some civic groups such as the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU) are opposed to the parliamentary led process and have vowed to oppose
whatever outcome of the process.

Other civic and church groups from the
southern regions of the country want the new constitution to ensure
devolution of power to provinces and protection of minority rights.

A
special parliamentary committee comprising members from Mugabe's ZANU PF
party and the two former opposition MDC formations will oversee the drafting
of the country's new constitution.

The draft constitution shall be
put before the electorate in a referendum expected in July next year and if
approved by Zimbabweans will then be brought before Parliament for
enactment.

Once a new constitution is in place, the power-sharing
government is expected to then call fresh parliamentary, presidential and
local government elections. - ZimOnline

Opposition blunders keeping Mugabe in power

OPINION: The important project of
liberating Zimbabwe from the dictatorship of President Robert Mugabe and his
ZANU PF party is as interesting as it is necessary.

It is full of
telling lessons for the student of politics who has an interest in the
workings of dictatorships and the strategies of those who seek to oppose and
unseat them.

It must embarrass all people who respect democracy in the
world, especially the political opposition in Zimbabwe that despite the many
mass graves of Gukurahundi, the ruins of Murambatswina, a collapsed
education and health delivery system, an economy on life support and a
starved population of hard working Zimbabweans, Mugabe remains at state
house and answers to the title of his Excellency, the President of the
Republic of Zimbabwe.

There is no need for research. Mugabe's secret of
longevity at state house and in the presidency of Zimbabwe is after all not
a secret at all but it is there for everyone to see.

The political
opposition in Zimbabwe has worked overtime in creating political penalty
kicks that have kept Mugabe scoring his way back to the leadership of the
country.

I must insist at this juncture that I am writing in good faith
as a Zimbabwean political activist and a student of politics and leadership
in Africa. I have just finished reading Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
Governor Gideon Gono's revealing book, "Zimbabwe's Casino Economy,
Extraordinary Measures for Extraordinary Challenges".

Well, dear
readers, the man and his career's beginnings are spectacularly humble. To
ascend from cleaning toilet chambers to occupying the office that governs a
country's central bank is a real grass to grace story.

In the book, Gono
professes "fierce loyalty" to Mugabe as his "principal". He expresses shock
that under the creator's sun there are people who dream or imagine that one
day he might "betray" his principal and play good ball in helping to unseat
Mugabe.

The principal and prefect relationship between Mugabe and Gono is
presented by Gono in the grammar and idiom of "professionalism" and "ethics"
of fidelity.

The Americans, the British and the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party are named as those who have expected Gono to
"become an instrument of regime change", an expectation that the governor
has found "incredulous" at best and at worst "insulting".

The book
leaves one with no iota of doubt that Gono is a Mugabe loyalist beyond
repair.

With clearly labelled diagrams, Gono exposes how the American
government tried to get him to desert Mugabe by offering him a senior job as
the vice president of the World Bank in Washington or at the African
Development Bank in Tunisia.

Both offers he politely turned down
because he says "I am not one to jump ship, no matter what . . . "

It
is a well written book and I personally respect the honesty and clarity
where Gono does not hide behind any finger but comes out and declares that
it is a waste of time and energy for any one to try and get him to
contribute anything in the struggle against Mugabe.

He also admits
that "10 percent" of the survival of the regime is owed to him and his
"team" at RBZ. It is the "economic gymnastics" that him and his team invoked
which helped the regime survive the sanctions and defy all expectations and
prophecies that the regime was about to collapse.

Gono announces that he
learnt this fierce from his humble climbing from the office of a toilet
cleaner, through being a student by correspondence at Rapid Results College,
a messenger at National Breweries, promoted to an accounts clerk at the same
company, and then promoted to a senior accounts clerk, until he ended up at
the CBZ bank, the University of Zimbabwe Council and then Governor of the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe where he still is today.

Gono's book makes
painful reading. I will not smuggle myself into the already fierce debate of
what Gono did and what he did not do or what should be done with
him.

I will concentrate on the painful observation of how some of
Zimbabwe's best brains have always been found at the unfortunate service of
the dictatorship in Harare and why we the democratic forces of Zimbabwe have
always allowed it to be so.

The question is where do we fail to
attract these personalities away from Mugabe and ZANU PF loyalism?

As
I write there is more blame directed at Gono for rescuing Mugabe and ZANU PF
from collapse than there is opposition and strategising against Mugabe's
rule.

My fear is that come the next elections, where I bet Mugabe
will once again be the presidential candidate for ZANU PF, there will be two
or more other presidential candidates from the opposition and Mugabe will
romp into victory, sentencing Zimbabweans to more painful years of his
punitive rule.

In my humble opinion, the whole hullabaloo about "Gono and
Tomana must go" is necessary but I think it is a slight concentration on the
opportunistic infections and not the disease itself.

It is OK when
you have malaria to put on warm clothing to ease the shivering but warmth
does not cure malaria. One needs doses of Norolon!

The rude question that
is confronting us in Zimbabwe is why and how Mugabe is still able to appoint
and disappoint people to and from important national offices in
Zimbabwe?

The many tonnes of bricks of blame on Gono and Attorney General
Johannes Tomana's small shoulders are alright, but the challenge we must not
try to escape is why Mugabe is still so powerful and what must be
done?

The pain that I feel when I take stock and observe how Gono as RBZ
Governor rescued the dictatorship is the pain that one will feel when he
finds a green mamba on his lawn and strikes it several times on its body,
and then Gono comes and applies betadine on it and carefully and clinically
bandages it, resuscitating it from the intensive care unit and releases it
back to your garden!

Every time the dictatorship in Harare is
threatened, there will come somebody or some bodies that we will later blame
for rescuing it and we tend to resent these personalities more than we
resent the dictatorship itself.

The gist of my argument is that to wage a
war on Mugabe's prefects and appointees might be a worthwhile exercise, but
I think it is largely an exercise in futility because as long as Mugabe
continues being allowed to return to state house as president of Zimbabwe,
he will always remain able to choose some of Zimbabwe's best brains to his
service and to his rescue and the survival of the regime.

My
suggestion is that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara must bare their bosoms to the swords of blame for
Mugabe's stay in the presidency of Zimbabwe.

I believe that the MDC
more than Gono helped Mugabe stay and ZANU PF remain in the leadership of
our country.

All the sins of Mugabe's prefects and appointees collected
together do not weigh half the weight of the blunder that the MDC did in
ever imagining that they will unseat Mugabe by contesting him as two
"different" political parties. The MDC literally rescued Mugabe by donating
unexpected victory to him.

Without apologising for Gono, Tomana or
any of Mugabe's loyalists and appointees I would like to suggest that it is
mostly the paralysis of strategic activity on the part of the opposition in
Zimbabwe that continues to insulate Mugabe from due ouster.

I believe
that Mugabe's appointees are just the recipients of blows intended for the
gods.

The strategists, schemers and the plotters in the MDC, I suggest
that they adopt it as homework from now on to attract away from ZANU PF and
Mugabe, some of Zimbabwe's talents to the service of the new Zimbabwe that
is long overdue.

It is also one of the chief blunders of the
opposition in Zimbabwe to invest too much trust in institutions that are
interested in their own interests in Zimbabwe and not the democratisation of
our country and the respect for human life, human rights, law and
order.

The United States (US) and Britain are global economic and
political players we cannot wish away for our own survival. We have to find
very strategic ways of working with them, bearing in mind that more than
half of Mugabe's work in destroying Zimbabwe was done with their protection
if not under the comfort of their quiet diplomacy.

From Gukurahundi
up to ESAP, it is no rumour but a fact that Mugabe was a man of special
British and US moments. As long as he secured their economic interests in
Zimbabwe, he could slaughter people like goats at Christmas and there was
not going to be censure or sanctions against him, targeted or
untargeted.

Jethro Mpofu is a Research Fellow at Mount Carmel
University, specialising in political communication and strategic
leadership. He writes from Mbabane, Swaziland. He is contactable at bayethej@yahoo.com -- ZimOnline

Journos challenge govt over accreditation

HARARE - - Four Zimbabwean journalists
have launched a court bid to block a ministerial order requiring reporters
to be accredited to cover a regional summit taking place in the country, in
a case certain to expose divisions within the country's unity
government.

In an urgent application filed Wednesday, freelance
journalists Stanley Gama, Valentine Maponga, Stanley Kwenda and Jealous
Mawarire, want the High Court to declare the order that they be accredited
or registered with Media and Information Commission (MIC) illegal because
the commission no longer exists at law.

The journalists, who say they
are not able to cover the summit because they do not have the "valid MIC
accreditation cards" demanded by the ministry, cited Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai as one of the respondents -- setting him up on collision course
with pro-President Robert Mugabe hardliners at the information ministry who
favour keeping the media shackled.

Tsvangirai said about two weeks ago
that journalists needed not worry about accreditation to carry out their
work because a host of legal changes since last year had made the MIC - the
body that used to accredit journalists - invalid

Journalists would
need to be accredited or registered with the new Zimbabwe Media Commission
(ZMC), which Parliament is in the process of setting up, once that body was
in place, Tsvangirai said.

But the information ministry immediately
issued a statement that journalists needed to hold accreditation cards from
the old MIC in order to carry out their work and in particular to cover the
ongoing Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) summit - a
requirement the journalists want the court to find unlawful.

Mugabe
loyalist Webster Shamu and the President's hawkish press secretary George
Charamba head the information ministry.

In the application filed in
chambers the journalists argue that the MIC was abolished in January 2008
after amendments to the dreaded Access to Information and Privacy Act
(AIPPA) and therefore the body was a nullity with no legal power to require
any journalist to be accredited with it to cover the COMESA summit or any
news event.

The amendments to APPIA replaced the MIC with a new the
Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC), which the government never set up. But a
constitutional amendment agreed by Zimbabwe's three main political parties
during power-sharing talks last year and enacted on February 19 provided for
the formation of the ZMC. Parliament has begun the process to establish the
body.

"Any powers relating to accreditation, inter alia, have
therefore been transferred from the first ZMC to the current ZMC .. as such
the minister continues to have no powers to make regulations, orders or
issue notices in relation to accreditation of journalists," Gama said in his
founding affidavit to court.

"The minister cannot purport to exercise
regulatory powers unless and until he is provided with written authorization
of such delegation from the ZMC this has not been done, either by the first
ZMC (which was never constituted), or the current ZMC, which is yet to be
constituted in terms of the law," he added.

The state was yet to file
responding papers to the journalists' application yesterday. No date has yet
been set for hearing of the matter.

But prominent human rights lawyer
Selby Hwacha representing the journalists pleaded with the court to treat
the matter with urgency because the COMESA heads of state and government
summit was due to take place from 7-8 June, 2009.

"This is a major
event which is of national, regional and international interest and
significance. The applicants, as practicing freelance journalists, have an
essential role to play in ensuring that information surrounding this major
event is brought into the public domain," Hawcha said in papers filed with
the court.

The lawyer said Shamu and Charamba, through their
misinterpretation of laws relating to media and freedom of expression were
wrongly and arbitrarily seeking to prevent the exercise of the journalists'
rights, as well as the free and uninhibited flow of information relating to
an event of major public interest.

Shamu and Charamba are cited as
first and second respondent respectively while the defunct MIC's former
chairman Tafataona Mahoso is third respondent.

Tsvangirai -- who
according to court papers is named in the application because as PM he is
responsible for the executive arm of the government, including the proper
implementation of both law and policy - is fourth respondent. ZimOnline.

Swedish officials to assess political situation

Two senior Swedish officials arrived in Harare yesterday to
assess the political situation in the country as Stockholm prepares to
assume the rotating presidency of the European Union.

Sweden's
director-general responsible for International Development Co-operation, Mr
Jan Knutsson, arrived in the country for talks with Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and other senior Government officials during the three-day
visit.

Speaking to The Herald soon after arrival at the Harare
International Airport, Mr Knutsson said he was on a fact-finding mission to
Zimbabwe.

"There is an inclusive Government, something that we view as a
very positive development for the country," he said.

Asked if his
country would consider lifting sanctions against Zimbabwe, Mr Knutsson said:
"We have not yet reached that stage, but what we are doing is to assess the
political development in the country, and the implementation of the Global
Political Agreement signed by the three principals."

He said PM
Tsvangirai was expected to visit Stockholm later this month where he would
brief the Swedish government on developments in Zimbabwe.

"We also expect
him to make representations to our government when he comes," he
said.

Mr Knutsson was welcomed at the airport by the Swedish Ambassador
to Zimbabwe Mr Sten Rylander and Head of Division for United States and
Europe in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Ngoni
Sengwe.

Sweden is expected to take over the rotating presidency of the EU
on July 1.

Discussions between the two countries are also expected to
explore areas of co-operation.

The visit by the Swedish delegation
follows that of the French State Secretary in charge of Foreign Trade, Mrs
Anne-Marie Idrac last week as hopes of resumption of normal relations with
the EU continue to rise.

The stand-off was sparked by Britain's
unwillingness to honour its obligation to fund Zimbabwe's land reform under
the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979.

Mrs Idrac met PM Tsvangirai
and Minister Biti and also confirmed a French invitation for the PM to that
country.

Norway also recently dispatched a high-level delegation to
Zimbabwe to open dialogue with Harare.

Sweden has been one of the
hard-liners along with Britain on the EU's policy on Zimbabwe and it is
hoped the visit will help mend relations.

Swaziland to help Zimbabwe recover

His Majesty King Mswati III being welcomed by Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe in Harare yesterday. The King is on a state visit and
will also attend the COMESA Heads of State Summit

HIS Majesty King Mswati III has assured the world that the Government
of Swaziland is studying Zimbabwe’s Recovery Programme with the view to identify
key areas where the former can assist in the latter’s rehabilitation strategy.

An announcement will be made soon on areas of cooperation.His
Majesty also expressed his keenness to have a Joint Bilateral Cooperation
Agreement signed between the Kingdom of Swaziland and Zimbabwe for cooperation
in such areas as trade, sports, cultural exchange programmes and tourism.His
Majesty made the remarks yesterday in Harare, Zimbabwe where he is currently on
a State visit. He is accompanied by Inkhosikati Make LaGija.His Majesty
emphasised that there could be no prosperity in the Southern African region if
one of its own, such as Zimbabwe still faced some difficulties.“It is for
this reason that the region is doing everything within its power to assist this
great country. My government is currently considering the programme to determine
where we can be of support. We are also looking at how best we can enhance our
trading relations with Zimbabwe in an effort to stimulate our economic
development,’ the King said.His Majesty added that the two countries needed
the agreements to be used as a leverage for development.“I look forward to
the establishment of a Joint Bilateral Cooperation Agreement where our two
countries can cooperate in health, the fight against HIV and AIDS, in sports,
culture and tourism development to name just a few. Such programmes can be a
catalyst in the development of our two countries,’ he said.The King noted
that for any country’s progress to be assured, there was the strong need for
peace and cooperation between the government and people.He expressed his
confidence that the people of Zimbabwe were willing, able and eager to support
the inclusive government as it pushes key priority areas for success.“As
Swazi nation we are aware that one of the key functions of government is to
create an environment for the private sector to flourish and also to provide
safety and security in the land we live in. “This is the mammoth task that
is before the inclusive government and requires patience from all levels of
society,” he said.

S.
Africa's Zuma Says Region Will Help Zimbabwe To Next Elections

South
African President Jacob Zuma, currently chairman of the Southern African
Development Community, said Wednesday that the regional grouping will
continue to support Zimbabwe's unity government until free and fair
elections can be held in the country.

In a state of the union address
that focused mainly on South Africa's economic situation, Mr. Zuma urged
"all peace-loving countries of the world" to support the unity government in
Harare to help it repair an economy devastated by a decade of
neglect.

He noted that Zimbabwe's political, economic and social crisis
has had a negative impact on the entire region. South Africa has had to
absorb millions of Zimbabwean refugees, who continue to flock over the
border despite the "all-inclusive" government at home.

Zimbabwean
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, meanwhile, told a summit of the Common
Market for Southern and Eastern Africa in progress this week in in Victoria
Falls that the unity government's formation had laid the foundation for
economic recovery.

But SADC Executive Secretary Tomaz Salamao said the
organization hasn't decided whether to hold yet another a special summit to
help resolve the "outstanding issues" troubling the government - chief among
which are the tenure of Gideon Gono as governor of the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe and Johannes Tomana as attorney general.

Tsvangirai's
formation of the Movement for Democratic Change insists that Gono, who was
reappointed late last year by President Robert Mugabe after the signature of
a power-sharing agreement but before the formation of the government, and
Tomana, named around the same time, must be replaced.

Gono has
acknowledged raiding private bank accounts at the central bank to fund Mr.
Mugabe's previous government, and Tomana has been accused of playing fast
and loose with the law to harass members of Mr. Tsvangirai's party, civic
activists and rights defenders.

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told
reporter Ntungamili Nkomo of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the party
wants a SADC summit as soon as possible.

Political analyst Rejoyce
Ngwenya said he is confident that SADC, under Mr. Zuma's leadership, will
help resolve the intra-government tensions in

Hoteliers reconsider 2010 rates

MARKETING directors from hotels met in Harare yesterday to
reconsider their pricing regime after a deal offered by Fifa to occupy 80
percent of their rooms for the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament, flopped
last week.

Yesterday's meeting came after the regulating authority, the
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority remonstrating against what it termed "ridiculous
pricing demands" of up to US$3 000 per night that led to Fifa turning its
back on Zimbabwe and signing a counter deal with
Botswana.

Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe president Mr Lewis
Chasakara yesterday said ZTA chief executive Mr Karikoga Kaseke "had every
reason to go mad over the pricing given the figures that were being thrown
around."

Mr Chasakara said the new figures would not be anywhere near
US$1 000 per night.

He said the problem was that Match Events - the
official Fifa accommodation company - had met with junior officials instead
of having a meeting at corporate level.

"Mr Kaseke is our regulator
and had every reason to go mad at the figures.

"He is a very reasonable
man and he reacted on information given to him. He has every reason to go
mad.

"Yes, the guys from Match Events came through but met our guys at
grassroots and they wanted 80 percent of our rooms. They should have met us
at corporate level and we would have given them reasonable figures because
we are reasonable people,'' said Mr Chasakara.

He said HAZ now wants
to seal a deal that is good for both the industry and the
country.

"This is a commercial deal and we want to have the best deal. We
want a deal that is good for both the country and the industry.

"As I
speak to you our marketing directors are meeting in Harare.

"I can assure
you that figures will not be anywhere nearer US$1 000,'' said Mr
Chasakara.

The problem with Match Events, said Mr Chasakara, is that they
are acting like a travel agent that will put a mark up on whatever price we
agree with them.

"The signing with Botswana is a marketing gimmick
meant to put pressure on us. Botswana has no rooms.

"Match is going
to make money out of it. They want 40 000 to 60 000 rooms over the entire
World Cup period, not at once.

"We now want to look at the offer from a
point of bed and breakfast or from other inclusions such as tours
etc.

"Basically, we will cut a commercial deal that is good for us and
our country,'' he said.

Air Zimbabwe to retrench 420
workers

CASH-STRAPPED national carrier Air Zimbabwe intends to
retrench 420 workers within the next 12 months owing to viability challenges
and the global economic recession that has also severely affected airlines
worldwide.

Air Zim chief executive Dr Peter Chikumba on Tuesday said the
move, which would see all departments affected, was necessitated by the need
to keep the company afloat given the various challenges it was
facing.

Some of the challenges included undercapitalisation, a huge debt,
poor load factors and foreign currency shortages.

"The airline is
presently in the intensive care unit.

"We are battling for survival and
cannot afford to maintain the current number of employees," he
added.

The national carrier has 1 500 employees but Chikumba said under
the present harsh conditions, the company could not even afford to employ
more than 800 workers.

The retrenchment exercise was expected to trim
down the airline's staff complement to 1 080.

Visa Waiver
''Encumbering'' Zimbabwean Trade

HARARE, Jun 3 (IPS) -
The South African government's removal of visa requirements for Zimbabweans
in April was aimed at easing entry for people still reeling from the crisis
in Zimbabwe. But, for Alice Kakwindi, Grace Chimhosva and other cross-border
traders, entering South Africa has subsequently turned into a
nightmare.

On the two occasions that they have visited South Africa's
border town of Musina since the relaxation of visa requirements, they spent
on average 16 hours trying to clear their goods at the Beitbridge border
post. Previously it took them no more than four hours to go through both
immigration and customs formalities.

''The process is now very slow.
We arrived at one a.m. It's 12 pm the next day and we are still here,''
Kakwindi told IPS. The two traders make a living from buying and selling
whatever goods are in short supply in Zimbabwe's capital of
Harare.

Zimbabwe and South Africa's governments signed an agreement last
month dropping visa requirements for Zimbabwean passport holders travelling
into South Africa. The agreement allows Zimbabweans entry into South Africa
on a 90 day pass and permits them to seek employment.

The move is
seen as a major move towards the free movement of people in the
sub-region.

Since then, business at the Beitbridge border post, the
busiest in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, has
almost come to a standstill because of the vastly increased numbers of
Zimbabweans now visiting South Africa.

South African border
authorities say Zimbabweans entering South Africa has more than doubled from
3,000 to 7,000 a day. But the biggest problem is on the Zimbabwean side of
the border where travellers are spending on average 10 hours waiting to
cross the border.

Although many Zimbabweans are grateful for the lifting
of visa restrictions, they feel the move should have been facilitated with
the boosting of human resources at the entry points. ''The problem is that
the move was not backed by an increase in the number of people working at
the border,'' Kakwindi pointed out.

The Beitbridge border post now
resembles a big automobile market as long and winding queues of vehicles and
people seeking to go through customs clearance have become a common feature.
The queues stretch for more than a kilometre and move at a snail's
pace.

Many travellers blame the slow pace of business at the border to
new measures introduced by the Zimbabwean coalition government. The measures
are aimed at plugging incidences of smuggling of goods into the country
without payment of duty.

''Such searches are meant to protect fiscal
revenue, public health and safety, among others," Zimbabwe Revenue Authority
(ZIMRA) legal and corporate services commissioner Faith Jambwa told IPS. She
added that the physical inspection of goods was a routine part in the
clearing of goods that are being imported or exported.

As a result of
this new policy, ZIMRA conducts searches on every person crossing into
Zimbabwe.

''A lot of people have been smuggling goods into the country
without paying duty. They hide their goods under seats in the buses. It is
because of such people that this policy has been introduced,'' said a ZIMRA
duty supervisor who asked not to be named because he is not authorised to
speak to the media.

The ZIMRA officers take about one hour to search
through a single bus crossing the border. He added that border operations
have also been affected by a lack of stationery that runs out as a result of
the dramatic swelling of traveller volumes. ''We often run out of stationery
such as clearing and declaration forms,'' the ZIMRA official told
IPS.

Custom and immigration officials at the post complained about being
short-staffed to handle searches of all vehicles in compliance with the
strict check-up procedures ordered by the new government.

During
IPS's visit to the border post, emotions ran high as uncooperative, angry
and delayed motorists clash with customs officials.

Zimbabweans
attempting to cross into South Africa using their national identity cards
made the situation worse. Despite the waiver on visas, the charge for
obtaining a passport is still too high for many ordinary Zimbabweans. A
regular passport cost 310 dollars, a figure beyond the reach of many in a
country where civil servants subsist on a 100 dollar salary
monthly.

To make matters worse, operations on the Zimbabwean side of
the border are yet to be computerised.

But for Kakwindi and Chimhosva
all this means that they now have to reduce the number of occasions that
they travel to Musina to purchase goods for resale. ''We used to travel
twice a month to buy goods for resale but we now dread the border delays.
Every time I feel my health is affected by the sleepless nights at the
border,'' Kakwindi told IPS.

Zimbabwe's co-minister of home affairs,
Kembo Mohadi, acknowledged the delays at the border. ''There are delays but
these are being addressed by the increase in staff to meet the growth in
people now travelling after the visa waiver,'' Mohadi told IPS.
(END/2009)

Curbing
the activities of political parasites

EVERYBODY who has picked up the gist of Zimbabwe's 100-Day Plan
is hoping it will work. It sets such praiseworthy targets and its sentiments
are so easily turned into inspiring pictures of reachable benefits. But the
pictures are fragile. The simple question: "Who will supply the resources?"
has already shattered most of them.

The whole thing is that fragile
because, despite being called a Plan, it is not a Plan. To become a plan, it
needs to identify strategies, and these need to show, not only a list of
what needs doing, but also how each will be done and how the
responsibilities for seeing them through will be placed into the most
responsible and capable hands. But because of the political risks, the
severely discouraging nature of Zimbabwe's recent history demands that these
should be different hands.

Potential investors cannot make that happen,
donor countries and aid organisations cannot think in those terms and the
development agencies, such as the World Bank and IMF, have very specific
mandates that do not include regime change. Efforts to sustain the pressures
for change therefore have to be made by Zimbabweans.

However, not all
Zimbabweans are pulling in the same direction. Some do not want to
relinquish privileges, some do not want to become accountable for past
conduct and the rest still hope to qualify for the unearned advantages and
benefits that enriched the first lot.

But when government had the power
to impose foreign earnings surrender requirements on exporters and could
happily release this money at preferential exchange rates to senior
politicians, it had considerable leverage. This disappeared completely with
the disappearance of the Zimbabwe dollar.

Those still in hope that
Zanu-PF will hatch the right schemes and scams to recover this leverage have
yet to realise the depths of the party's failures. Their continued support
is often because they have so readily believed the fiction that Zanu-PF's
policies would have all been gloriously successful if only unsympathetic
western countries had not conjured up "illegal economic sanctions" and
"illegal regime-change conspiracies".

The continuing absence of
independent radio, TV and daily newspapers is the main reason why the
population seldom hears more factual accounts of the reasons for Zimbabwe's
decline. MDC promised to restore Press freedom and open competition for the
hearts and minds of Zimbabweans, but no useful steps have yet been taken.
Why?

To be worthy of the name, a Plan would also have to show how actual
progress would be made towards placing the distinctly different business
challenges into equally responsible and capable hands. By contrast, this
would call, not for new hands, but for the hands of those whose proven
successful track records set them apart. In fact, their considerable
successes over many years seemed to become the principal reason why Zanu-PF
wanted to dis-empower them, capture their assets and close them
down.

From all the Zanu-PF statements, it is clear that, just as they do
not want political influence to be taken from them, they also do not want to
see economic influence returned to the people who they have already
dispossessed, or any rescue attempt for those they are still lining up for
the forced transfers of 51 percent of the shares in their
businesses.

If these fundamental objectives qualify to be described as a
Plan, it amounts to a plan to prevent recovery rather than promote it. If
this is the case, the strategies chosen have been selected to deliver
failure.

In response, the strategies of all other Zimbabweans will have
to be selected to defeat that objective. Inflows of money would certainly
help, but Zanu-PF is still standing in the receiving line. As Zimbabwe has
disqualified itself from receiving the support of development and aid
organisations as well as donor countries because of Zanu-PF's failures,
their continuing demands to be treated with respect that they squandered
years ago has become the principal barrier.

Most potential
contributors have shown willingness to work through the Government of
National Unity and have offered assurances that they will do so as soon as
their basic requirements are met. These are the return of the Rule of Law,
an end to all forms of political violence, the restoration of civil rights
as well as property rights and the de-politicisation of the judiciary and
security forces.

A point made ad nauseam by Zanu-PF is that the country
can never return to its pre-Land Reform state. Even those who hope to see
all agricultural property returned to the market know that when it is, life
as it was before will never be fully restored. But Zanu-PF needs to wake up
to the fact that political changes of an equally penetrating nature have
taken place and will ensure that they too can never recover what they had
before.

Their official as well as private conduct has been often
characterised as parasitic, like the ticks on a dog. But so efficient had
they become at living off, or consuming the substance of the State, they
forced Zimbabwe into a protracted decline. To pursue the analogy, the ticks
became bigger than the dog.

Saving such a dog might call for blood
transfusions and strenuous efforts to get rid of the ticks. Zimbabwe started
receiving very small transfusions of US dollars and South African Rands as
its own currency moved towards, then reached inevitable collapse. Since
then, much bigger transfusions have been desperately needed, but to return
to the dog analogy, a vet would withhold these until the evidence showed
they will not be consumed by the ticks.

Every vet in the world would
advise that no dog should be expected to rid itself of its own ticks, but
they would all happily advise on ways that could make the dog and its
general surroundings inhospitable to ticks.

Sadly, it would appear that
little can be done to curb the activities of political parasites. Naming
them in lists of people considered deserving of targeted sanctions seems to
be as far as external authorities think they can go.

Police foil bid to smuggle 2,3kg diamonds

A Lebanese man was arrested at the Harare International Airport
on Monday after he attempted to smuggle 2,3kg of unpolished
diamonds.

Ali Karbala (23), who is unemployed and a former student at
Speciss College in Harare, was arrested after police trailed him from his
Gunhill house to the airport.

This was after detectives from the CID
Minerals Unit were tipped off that Karbala was in possession of the
diamonds.

The detectives put his house under surveillance before trailing
him to the airport, where they searched his luggage and found the diamonds
wrapped in carbon paper, along with a digital scale and some magnifying
lenses.

Further investigations revealed that the diamonds were destined
for Lebanon.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Andrew Phiri confirmed
the arrest and said investigations were still in
progress.

"Investigations are in progress to establish syndicates linked
to the accused person who we believe are in and around Harare," said Supt
Phiri.

He said Karbala was still in custody and assisting police with
investigations.

He is expected to appear in court soon facing charges
under the Precious Stones Act for unlawful possession of
diamonds.

Supt Phiri said minerals, drugs and ivory continue to be
smuggled out of the country, especially through the airport.

He said
for the past few years, the CID Minerals Unit had been targeting mines,
buyers and dealers in the country but were now switching their attention to
exit and entry points.

"We have ivory that is ending up in China since
the points of exit and entry are being used to smuggle goods and minerals to
markets outside Zimbabwe," said Supt Phiri.

He said there was also
laxity on the part of some security agents deployed to man these entry and
exit points.

Arbitrary arrests must stop

On Monday this week a Harare
magistrate removed prominent lawyer Alex Muchadehama from remand. It was
quite clear to the magistrate that the lawyer had not committed any
offence.This comes on the heels of the acquittal of another prominent
lawyer, now minister of constitutional affairs, Eric Matinenga. He had spent
weeks in a filthy and congested cell in Buhera and
Rusape.

Magistrates, prosecutors and a court clerk have also spent time
behind bars recently - not accused of any criminal activity, not charged
with corruption or any other offence. Their crime? - doing their job
properly.These lawyers join countless other Zimbabweans who have been
unjustly locked up in the most inhuman conditions, in a prison system that
the Zanu (PF) minister of justice himself has admitted is broke and
responsible for the death of hundreds of prisoners through malnutrition and
preventable diseases.

It is appalling that the police continue to be
used a political tool of Zanu (PF) in this manner - arresting people
willy-nilly on the orders of senior politicians and self-confessed Zanu (PF)
officials in police uniform at police HQ.It is nonsense for the police
to make a song and dance about launching a police service charter. What is
needed is a change of behaviour - from the top downwards. The people of
Zimbabwe want action - not fancy documents stuck to police station walls.
For as long as innocent individuals continue to be arrested and thrown into
prison simply for doing their jobs or engaging in legitimate political
activities, the police force remains a wing of Zanu (PF) and nothing
else.While the police are busy arresting innocent civilians, they
demonstrate their bias by turning a blind eye to on-going political violence
- perpetrated by Zanu (PF) supporters. Not only are there more than 200
political murder cases unresolved, where the murderers are known and walking
free, but Zanu supporters continue to rampage with immunity through
communities known to support the MDC.If the police force generally is
serious about reforming itself through the re-launch of its charter, we urge
them to start obeying the law themselves. It is time for them to do their
job properly. That is the only way they are going to earn the respect of the
people of Zimbabwean once again

JAG open letter forum - No. 635 - Dated 3rd June 2009

Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum tojag@mango JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM - No..zw with "For
Open LetterForum" in the subject line.

********

The following letters are in response
to this one published earlier by JAG:

5. Dear Jag

The Future is
closer than you think

Firstly it is terrible that what has happened to
the WHITE farmers inZimbabwe, but what I find hard to understand is why the
WHITE farmerswho have lost the battle for the land to blacks persist in
findingfairness and justice in this land called Africa. Most of you
WHITEShave British passports (you are so dedicated to Zim not sure why
youhold on to the British passport), why do you stay on in
Zimbabwe.

I read your arguments of farm invasions saying millions of
dollars willbe lost if the invasions continue so I ask is it about the
money, is itabout the loss of a life style of privilege? All the WHITES are
notwanted in Zimbabwe and soon the blacks will have you all out, but how
canyou all not fail to see that, why do you persist and continue to
fightthis losing battle. I know perhaps Morgan promised some hope, but
nowsurely you can see his true colours shining with his Zanu speak of
noproblems on the land.

So maybe one of you's will shed some light on
this matter for what do Iknow I am just a lowly Goffal (oh they call us
goffals cause we got thesh*te in us).

Why don't you just leave I know
if I knew who my WHITE father was Iwould be on the next plane or train out
of here. At least most of youshad at least 20 years of bliss in Zimbabwe,
while us Goffals had nothing,we lost all rights in 1980 and slowly we are
becoming
extinct.

CONFLICT IN AGRICULTURE IN ZIMBABWE - a national disaster; but
howdo we sort it out?

It is time that the land reform programme in
Zimbabwe over the last 10years is recognised as a national disaster. It
continues to sink thecountry's people in a picture of terrible woe and the
story of woewill continue so long as the problems associated with the land
reformprogramme are not sorted out.

In its unstated aim, the land
reform programme has been extremelyeffective. It has been a period of
political power mongering whereadherents to the ruling Party have been given
the land so that the rulingparty can control the people. A quarter of the
Zimbabwe population livedon "white owned" land. By taking the white owned
land thosepeople have now been "controlled" and the ruling party hasbeen
able to retain power by its much feared severe intimidation tactics.

The
fact that the land has all been occupied on a "jambanja"basis by ruling
party militia, outside the rule of law where none of theowners received
eviction orders from courts and compensation for whatthey lost, appears
immaterial.

The cost to the country and its people though has been a
story ofterrible tragedy. Commercial agriculture has all but been destroyed
andthe land reform programme can only be looked at as a national disaster
interms of what it has caused:

. Total agricultural production has
more than halved.

. National average incomes have dropped by two thirds
in a decade.

. There has been an 80 percent decline in living
standards.

. Unemployment runs at up to 90 percent in Zimbabwe
now.

. More than half the population need food aid from outside the
countryand Zimbabwe has become the most food dependant country in the
world.

. Inflation rates were higher than any country in history until
thecurrency collapsed altogether.

As a result of the economic demise
due to the chaotic land reformprogramme and the abandonment of the rule of
law:

. The number of doctors fell to 16 per 100,000 people.

.
27 percent of children under the age of 5 now record stunted growthand 13
percent of children die before the age of 5 - the highestmortality rate in
the whole of sub Saharan Africa.

. Life expectancy fell by a full 20
years to the lowest of any countryon earth from 55 years in 1998 to 35 years
in 2004.

It is no surprise that over a quarter of the population has fled
Zimbabweand lives elsewhere.

But how can Zimbabweans untangle the
chaos that the land reform programmehas created? How can we become a
productive nation once again where thepeople are employed and are fed; the
children are schooled and healthcare is possible?

All the way through
history the institution of property rights has beenfundamental to creating
solutions to agriculturally impoverishednations. Zimbabwe has huge
agricultural potential. Most of itspotential has never been realised due to
the lack of property rightsthroughout the communal areas; but through the
places where there wereproperty rights, Zimbabwe was enabled to take its
place as the onlycountry in post independent Africa besides South Africa to
be a net foodexporter up until property rights began to be
destroyed.

The most disturbing trend of the new Unity Government is that
propertyrights continue to be destroyed with the lack of respect for the
rule oflaw and the reluctance of police to follow court orders or the
Governmentto adhere to judgements in International courts like the SADC
Tribunal.

Almost every remaining white commercial farmer in Zimbabwe is
eitherbeing prosecuted in the courts for still being on the land or is
facingan invasion by connected ZANU PF people at the current time. In my
owndistrict of Chegutu invaders continue to reap crops they never
sowed,assault farm workers, and kick the white owners and their workers out
oftheir homes, all with impunity. The Unity Government is well aware
ofthis but they are so far turning a blind eye and letting it all
continue.

History shows how as one country after the next has thrown off
theauthoritarian yoke where property rights were taken away by the
State;those countries begin to rise from the ruins. It doesn't
matterwhether it was Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, the countries
ofEastern Europe and Russia or elsewhere.in the end property rightshave
come back. Those with the title deeds, the owners, have been giventheir
properties back or been able to sell them to someone who wants themenough to
pay for them and make the land productive once again.

In Zimbabwe the
issue of property rights and the conflict in agriculturewill follow us and
continue to create problems for us until it is dealtwith.

Hunger and
poverty will remain with us until a dynamic dispensation comesinto place
that grapples with the issue of property rights and recognisesthat you can
dispossess people without paying them for what you aredispossessing them
of.

The dynamic dispensation that wants to bring Zimbabwe out from
itsnational disaster needs to either:

1. Pay the owners whose
properties, homes and businesses have beentaken from them and make that land
available for serious farmers topurchase. The more serious the farmer the
more he will be prepared topay and the more he will need to produce to make
his investment pay foritself.

Or:

2. Tell the owner that the
Government can not find the money to pay himand then let the owner decide
whether he wants to go back and farmhis property or whether he wants to sell
his property to someone else whowill make it productive once
more.

For Government the choice should be simple. At the same time as
doingone or other of these two things it needs to be bringing property
rightsinto the communal and bona fide resettlement areas that have
neverenjoined property rights in the past. The people there will only then
beable to benefit from being able to use those rights to raise finance
anddevelop their areas as they should be developed. Hundreds of
thousandsof irrigable hectares of land remain unproductive in the communal
areasat the current time because nobody has been willing to empower the
peopleby giving them property rights.

But if the current Government
continues to run away from making anychoices regarding the conflict in
agriculture and the cause of thenational disaster that continues to stalk
through the land through thelack of respect for property rights, the people
will continue to pay forthe Governments short sightedness by remaining
hungry and poor. We willcontinue to live in a country of woe and disaster
with the begging bowlstretched out to the world to try to alleviate some of
what the peoplesuffer; and never have any real hope of solving the suffering
of ourpeople with any kind of long term
solution.

I would like to respond to the mail yesterday from Clinton, and
inresponse would like to outline the following points:

The whites
currently here, were born here, have lived all our lives hereand will stay
here.

Most of us do not have British passports and the laws pertaining
toobtaining one of these, were changed years ago, by the
BritishGovernment. A friend of mine, who recently applied to visit his
parentsin the UK at Christmas, (His parents are there only on a 5 year
workingvisa), was turned down. Can't even visit his folks. The
reason?They said he was going to remain in the UK. What about the 3
millionillegal's in the UK currently.

Talk about money and
privileges' ???. We talk about money,directly related to incomes received
by the government of Zimbabwethrough the exportation of agricultural
produce. (Used to be a billion usdollar income).

What did this income
provide???????????. Jobs, food, clothing, industry,taxes, development,
investment, It provided governmental income toprovide services to the
people-Road maintenance and development,Electricity, water supply, rural
electrification and development, sewagecontrol, housing, transportation and
the rest.

Trust me, you do not just arrive on a farm and get privileges'
andrich. That can take anywhere up to 20 years to achieve. It is a
business,like any other business. You borrow money, formulate a business
plan andcash flow, implement it and pray to god, that you get the rains and
yieldyou forecasted.

Because if you do not, you fail. Hundreds (If
not thousands), ofindividuals tried farming as a business, and went bust.
Banks wouldforeclose and your goods went on auction, whilst you then
attempted toget a job somewhere. Just like any other business. No money
comes easy,and hard work and honesty amongst a whole lot of other criteria,
are whatare needed.

You might not believe it, but we do love our
fellow Zimbabweans ofall race and colour. (Excluding the Bad ones). We feel
for theirhardship and suffering and would love normality to return here, so
thateveryone can live a normal life.

Zimbabwe is a beautiful country
and has wonderful people to complimentit, why don't you try and start
believing this and doing somethingabout it, by just showing some pride in
Zimbabwe and some concern. Wewill all get this place up and running, but we
will not, if there is noone to believe in it.

If I was you, I would
go to the ends of the earth to find out who myfather was and hold him to
task. I certainly, would never abandon myoffspring, no matter the
circumstances.

What a lot of misinformation and misconception from Clinton, no
doubtheld by others.

1/ All WHITE farmers DO NOT have British
passports. Many WHITES do nothold anything other than a Zimbabwe passport,
their ancestors having beenhere for four generations. No other country will
take them. You have tobe young, suitably qualified and have some financial
resources to go toany other country.

2/ It is not just WHITE farmers
who have lost their land. There are anumber of BLACK farmers who have lost
land and investment too.

And many BLACKS who have been dispossessed of
everything if they workedon farms. Many have been dispossessed of their
very lives.

3/ No one is a "mistake". Mixed race people are a part of
Zimbabwe,Clinton.

4/ Mankind descended from Adam, but became so
wicked that God wiped themall out with a universal flood (evidence of which
does exist globally,geologically and in oral tradition) He saved Noah and
his sons as theonly righteous men left.

We therefore ALL descend from
NOAH.

Bushman paintings exist all along the African north and east coast,
andsimilar paintings exist in France.

So we are ALL
cousins.

So GET OVER IT and GET ON WITH PUTTING THIS COUNTRY
RIGHT.

LAW & ORDER

JUSTICE

HUMAN RIGHTS

PROPERTY
RIGHTS

LOVE GOD

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF

FORGIVE SO
THAT GOD MAY FORGIVE YOU

These are the foundations of
civilisation.

No one can prosper or succeed with stolen goods or
unrighteous lifeprinciples or behaviour.

REPENTANCE means more than
being sorry. It means turning right around."Aah sorry" won't be good enough
on the Judgement Day.